Soil tight retaining wall

ABSTRACT

A SOIL TIGHT RETAINING WALL OF THE BIN TYPE HAVING PLURALITY OF PAIRS OF VERTICAL CONNECTORS, EACH CONNECTOR HAVING A FLANGE PORTION AND A WEB PORTION EXTENDING LATERALLY FROM THE CENTER LINE OF THE FLANGE PORTION SO AS TO HAVE A T-SHAPED CROSS SECTION. THE FLANGE PORTION OF ONE VERTICAL CONNECTOR OF EACH PAIR IS PARALLEL TO THE FRONT OF THE WALL AND THE FLANGE PORTION OF THE OTHER CONNECTOR OF THE SAME PAIR IS PARALLEL TO THE REAR OF THE WALL. LAPPED STRINGER MEMBERS JOIN THE VERTICAL CONNECTORS TO FORM THE FRONT AND REAR OF THE WALL, EACH END OF EACH STRINGER MEMBER BEING ATTACHED TO A PART OF THE FLANGE PORTION ON ONE SIDE OF THE WEB PORTION OF ONE OF THE VERTICAL CONNECTORS. LAPPED SPACER MEMBERS JOIN THE PAIRS OF VERTICAL CONNECTORS, THE ENDS OF EACH SPACER MEMBER BEING ATTACHED TO THE WEB PORTIONS OF THE VERTICAL CONNECTORS OF A PAIR.

J. H. BOYNTON SOIL TIGHT RETAINING WALL Get. 26, T1

3 Shoots-Shout 1 Filed Sept. 22, 1969 lm aw Q \mw Q @N INN 0 0 -WH W o 50 m INVENTOR/S JERALD H. BOYNTON BY Lygm 2% and WM):

ATTORNEYS Oct. 26, 1971 BOYNTON 3,614,87

I SOIL TIGHT RETAINING WALL Filed Sept. 22, 1969 3 Sheets-Sheet 5lNVENTOR/S JERALD H. BOYNTON BY yadda, d t arm Wm! ATTORNEYS 3,614,870SOIL TIGHT RETAINING WALL Jerald H. Boynton, Franklin, Ohio, assignor toArmco Steel Corporation, Middletown, Ohio Filed Sept. 22, 1969, Ser. No.859,706

Int. Cl. EtlZd 29/02 US. Cl. 61-47 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Asoil tight retaining wall of the bin type having a plurality of pairs ofvertical connectors, each connector having a flange portion and a webportion extending laterally from the center line of the flange portionso as to have a T-shaped cross section. The flange portion of onevertical connector of each pair is parallel to the front of the wall andthe flange portion of the other connector of the same pair is parallelto the rear of the wall. Lapped stringer members join the verticalconnectors to form the front and rear of the wall, each end of eachstringer member being attached to a part of the flange portion on oneside of the web portion of one of the vertical connectors. Lapped spacermembers join the pairs of vertical connectors, the ends of each spacermember being attached to the web portions of the vertical connectors ofa pair.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION (1) Field of the invention This inventionrelates to the art of retaining walls, and, in particular, to the art ofbin-type retaining walls.

(2) Description of the prior art Bin-type retaining walls are composedof a series of adjoining bins which may be assembled in the field fromknown units. The bins are then backfilled with fill material, generallysoil, and transformed into a permanent, economical retaining wall.

In practice, bin-type retaining walls are used because of lower initialcost and reduced maintenance expense, and/or because they provide alogical solution to a problem involving difficult or restrictiveinstallation conditions. In addition, such structures are characterizedby greater strength and stability, easy installation without expensiveequipment, and fast assembly even with unskilled crews.

Exemplary installations where bin-type retaining walls may be utilizedinclude on highway and railroad projects to gain right-of-way by eithersupporting part of the road or pushing back an encroaching slope; onmunicipal, industrial or commercial sites to create usable flat areasthat would otherwise be wasted slopes; to correct certain slideconditions; to curtail shore or bank erosion; to permit expandingadjacent grade-separated highway or railway right-of-ways; to preventerosion under bridge abutments; and to provide wing walls on bridgeabutments. This type of structure can be assembled to achieve anydesired combination of height, length and curvature.

Prior art retaining walls of the bin-type, as exemplified by UnitedStates Letters Patents 2,092,646 and 2,210,264, have generally proven tobe satisfactory in most respects. They have, however, proven to beunsatisfactory in retaining backfilled fine sand therein. Additionally,when the backfilled soil is muddy or subjected to heavy rains it washesout through small cracks in the structure.

It should also be noted that the wall portions of many prior artretaining walls of the bin-type have been deflected and attaching boltstherein sheared because of the draw down of the walls of the bins by theaction of the back- 3,614,879 Patented Oct. 26, 1971 filledl soilthereon when settlement cannot be accommoate Finally, many prior artretaining walls of the bin-type require the use of special fasteningmeans, such as clips, and the stringer members, spacer members and clipsare all joined to the column by the same bolts. For this reason, thebins must be assembled on the site, as the walls thereof do not lendthemselves to shop assembly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a soil tightretaining wall of the bin-type, which comprises a plurality of pairs ofvertical connectors, one vertical connector of each pair being in theplane of the front of the wall and the other vertical connector being inthe plane of the rear of the wall. Stringer members join the verticalconnectors in the front of the wall and in the rear of the wall. Spacermembers join the pairs of vertical connectors. The vertical connectorsare T-shaped in cross section and include a web portion substantiallynormal to and positioned centrally on a flange portion. The stringermembers and the spacer members are lapped such that the shingle effectthereof prevents soil leakage through the longitudinal laps. Each end ofthe stringer members is attached to a part of the flange portion on oneside of the web portion of one of the T-shaped vertical connectors. Eachend of the spacer members is attached to the web portion of one of theT-shaped vertical connectors.

In preferred embodiments, the stringer members and the spacer membersmay be generally hat-shaped in cross section, comprising a base,outwardly sloping legs and outwardly extending flanges at the ends ofthe legs. The flanges are substantially parallel to the base. Theflanges of each stringer member, or spacer member as the case may be,are juxtaposed and contiguous with the flanges of adjacent stringer orspacer members, and the flanges of the stringer or spacer members areattached to the vertical connectors.

It will be understood by one skilled in the art that the spacers andstringers of the present invention may have any suitable cross sectionalconfiguration providing flanges capable of being lapped in the mannerhereinafter described.

The retaining wall may also include a grade plate at the bottom of eachof the vertical connectors. The grade plate will maintain alignment ofthe retaining wall during construction but will permit the verticalconnectors to penetrate the original elevation to accommodate draw downof the retaining wall by the action of the soil in the bins against thestringer and spacer members. This, of course, will minimize the internalstructural loads and the structure will be characterized by aflexibility to accommodate minor soil shifts after installation.

The retaining wall may also include horizontal stringer caps coveringthe uppermost edge of the flange of each one of the uppermost stringermembers in the front of the wall.

In addition, any exosed spacer members, and particularly those of theendmost bin, may be provided with vertical spacer caps to assure a soiltight connection between such spacers and the adjacent connector.

Thus, the bin-type retaining wall of the present invention issubstantially soil tight in all respects. Accordingly, each bin willhold soil even if a portion of the spacers is exposed in an offset wall.As indicated above, the shingle effect of the lapped stringer and spacermembers prevents soil inside the bins from leaking through the laps.

The retaining wall of the present invention is more economical thanprior art retaining walls because clips are not utilized to join thevarious members thereof.

Although fewer bolts are used in the structure of the present invention,the stringer members and spacer members are not all attached to thevertical connectors by the same bolts. For this reason, the presentwalls may be shop or field assembled, wherein a front wall and a backwall made up of a plurality of vertical connectors and stringer membersmay be bolted together. These flat sections may then be shipped to thejob site, crane erected and positioned by bolting in the spacer members.Similarly, individual bins or spacer sections can be shop assembled andshipped to the job site.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a plan view of a soil tightretaining wall of the bin-type according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front elevation thereof.

FIG. 3 is an end elevation thereof.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 44 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing one of the exemplary T-shapedvertical connectors, longitudinal front wall stringer members,transverse spacer members and front wall stringer caps.

FIG. 7 is an exploded isometric view showing the typical construction ofa portion of the continuous soil tight retaining wall according to thepresent invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Turning now to FIGS. 15, itwill be seen that the retaining wall 10 of the present inventiongenerally comprises a plurality of closed-face bins 12. The bins 12 aremade up of a plurality of pairs of vertical connectors 14, one verticalconnector of each pair being in a plane 16 of a front of the wall andthe other vertical connector being in a plane 18 of the rear of thewall. Stringer members 20 connect the vertical connectors in the frontand rear of the wall 10, and spacer members 22 connect the pairs ofvertical connectors 14.

In practice, the stringer members 20 are generally about 10 feet or 3meters long and the spacer members 22 are generally half as long as thewall 10 is high.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 the vertical connectors 14 are preferablyT-shaped in cross section and include a web portion 14a substantiallynormal to and positioned centrally on a flange portion 14b. The stringerand spacer members 20 and 22, respectively, may comprise any suitablesection so long as adjacent stringer members 20 and adjacent spacermembers 22 may be lapped together in a shingle effect. The shingleeffect prevents soil leakage out of the bins 12. However, in practice ithas been found that the stringer members 20 and the spacer members 22should preferably be hat shaped in cross section. The flanges 20a and2011 at the ends of the legs of the stringer members 20 are juxtaposedand contiguous with flanges 20b and 20a of adjacent stringer members, asseen in FIG. 5, and held together by the bolts 2412, as seen in FIG. 6.Similarly, the flanges 22a and 22b of spacer members 22 are juxtaposedand contiguous with flanges 22b and 22a of adjacent spacer members, asseen in FIG. 4. Thus FIGS. 4 and 5 clearly illustrate the orientation ofthe spacers and stringers, respectfully, to achieve the above mentionedshingle effect. It will be understood that the thickness of the spacermembers 22 and stringer members 20 has been exaggerated in FIGS. 4 and 5for purposes of clarity.

The stringer members 20 are attached at the ends thereof to a portion ofthe flange 14b on one side of the web 14a of one of the T-shapedvertical connectors 14, by means of conventional bolts 24 or otherfastening means. (See FIGS. 5 and 6). Likewise, bolts 24a or otherfastening means are used to join each of the ends of the spacer members22 to a web 14a of one of the T-shaped vertical connectors 14. (SeeFIGS. 4 and 6).

It should be noted that the T-shaped vertical connector 14 is afabricated part in which the weld between the flange 14b and the web 14ahas very little fillet. Accordingly, the stringer members 20 willsubstantially abut the web 14a of each connector 14.

In practice, the retaining Wall 10 of the present invention includes agrade plate (generally indicated at 26) positioned at the bottom of eachof the vertical connectors 14. The grade plate 26 may, for example,comprise a planar member 26a having flanges 26b and 26c substantiallynormal thereto and at the ends thereof (see FIGS. and 7). The purpose ofthe grade plates 26 is to maintain alignment of the retaining wallduring construction. However, they should be made of deformable materialsuch as to permit the vertical connectors 14 to penetrate the originalelevation to accommodate draw down of the retaining wall by the actionof the backifill soil in the bins 12 against the hat-shaped stringer andspacer members and 22, respectively. Accordingly, internal structuralloads which might otherwise cause deflection in the front and rearwalls, crippling of the vertical connectors or shearing of thefasteners, will be minimized.

A preferred embodiment of the retaining wall 10 according to the presentinvention also includes stringer caps 28 (FIGS. 5, 6 and 7), attached bybolts 24 or other fastening means and covering the uppermost edge of theflange 20a of each one of the uppermost stringer members 20 in the frontof the wall 10. While the stringer caps 28 are primarily a safetyfeature, they also assist in preventing buckling of the top edge of theuppermost flange 20a of the uppermost stringer members 20 in the frontof the wall 10 and enhance the appearance of the structure.

It will be noted in FIG. 7, for example, that the ends of the spacermembers 22 will approach the ends of the stringer members 20 to the leftof the connector 14 (as seen in FIG. 7) when the assembly is complete.Thus the stringer members and spacer members will form two corrugatedpanels meeting at right angles. Soil leakage could occur at such ajuncture. When the spacer members are not at the end of the bin wallstructure (as is the case in FIG. 7) such soil leakage is of littleconsequence. However, such soil leakage is to be avoided at the endmostspacer members of the bin wall structure or at exposed spacer members inan offset bin wall structure.

To avoid such soil leakage, the ends of endmost or exposed spacermembers may be provided with vertically oriented spacer caps. The spacercaps are U-shaped in cross section and will surround the ends of thespacer members. Such a spacer cap is fragmentarily illustrated at 30 inFIG. 7. In FIG. 1, the endmost spacer members 22 are provided withspacer caps 30.

The spacer caps may be provided with appropriate perforations and may beheld in place by the same bolts 24a which are used to affix the spacermembers 22 to the connectors 1 4. The spacer caps 30 may have anysuitable length, depending on the position at which they are used. Forexample, at the ends of the bin wall structure, they should extendsubstantially the full height of the endmost spacer members 22.Elsewhere in a bin wall structure they should be of sufficient length toat least cover the ends of those spacer members which are exposed.

It is important to emphasize that the improved bin-type retaining wall10 of the present inveniton is soil tight for a number of reasons.First, each bin 12 has four complete closed faces or walls so that thebin will hold soil even if portions of the spacer members 22 are exposedin an olfset wall. Second, in laying up the stringer members 20 and thespacer members 22 in the most natural way, they are lapped in such a waythat the shingle effect will prevent soil from leaking through at thelongitudinal laps therebetween. Additionally, the vertical connectors 14are fabricated parts in which the weld has very little fillet.Accordingly, the stringer members 20 abut the webs 14a of the verticalconnectors 14 and aid in preventing soil leakage from within the bins12. Finally, the vertical spacer caps will prevent leakage around theends of the endmost spacers, or those spacers which are exposed.

The present invention also provides a retaining wall which is moreeconomical in that it uses fewer fastening means and does not requirespecial clips or the like. Also, the stringer members 20 and the spacermembers 22 are all attached to the vertical connectors 14 by differentbolts 244411 or other suitable fastening members. Accordingly, theretaining wall of the present invention may be subassembled in the shop,as indicated above. In most situations this will result in considerablyreduced erection costs.

Modifications may be made in the invention without departing from thespirit of it. For example, while the stringer members 20 and spacermembers 22 have been described as individual elongated members ofhat-shaped cross section, it is Within the scope of the presentinvention to substitute panels for the individual stringer and spacermembers. Such panels could have any suitable cross section and anyappropriate dimensions. Thus, in FIG. 1, the front wall 16 and rear wall18 could be 'fabricated of one or two panels each, equivalent in size tothe plurality of spacer members illustrated as extending between theconnectors 14. Similarly, the spacers shown in FIG. 3 could comprise asingle panel.

It is also within the scope of the invention to provide decorativevertical trim caps to cover the flange portions 14b of those connectorsexposed to view. Such trim caps could be made of any suitable materialsuch as wood, plastic or metal and can be affixed to the flange portions14b by any suitable fastening means. The trim caps could be soconfigured as to have a snap engagement with the flange portions 14b.

What I claim is:

I 1. A soil tight retaining wall of the bin-type, which comprises aplurality of pairs of vertical connectors, each said vertical connectorbeing T-shaped in cross section and including a web portionsubstantially normal to and positioned centrally on a flange portion,one vertical connector of each pair being in the plane of the front ofsaid wall and the other vertical connector being in the plane of therear of said wall, lapped stringer members joining said verticalconnectors in the front and rear of said wall, each of said stringermembers being generally hat-shaped in cross section with outwardlyextending flanges, the flanges of each of said stringer member beingoverlapped so as to be juxtaposed and contiguous with the flanges ofadjacent stringer members, and the flanges of said stringer membersbeing attached at the ends thereof to a part of the flange portion onone side of the web portion of adjacent ones of said T-shaped verticalconnectors, and lapped spacer members joining said pairs of verticalconnectors, each of said spacer members being generally hatshaped incross section with outwardly extending flanges, the flanges of each saidspacer member being overlapped so as to be juxtaposed and contiguouswith the flanges of adjacent spacer members, and the flanges of saidspacer members being attached at the ends thereof to the web portions ofadjacent ones of said T-shaped vertical connectors, whereby a pluralityof bins are formed between said pairs of vertical connectors which aresoil tight and which hold the back filled soil therein so as to form anintegral retaining wall.

2. The structure claimed in claim 1 including means for capping the endsof those spacer members joining certain at least of said pairs ofconnectors, said capping means comprising vertically oriented elongatedelements having a U-shaped cross sectional configuratlon, said elementsbeing so sized as to accept the ends of the spacer members between thelegs of said U-shaped configuration, said elements being aflixed tothose connectors being joined by the spacer members being capped.

3. The retaining wall according to claim 1, includmg a deformable gradeplate at the bottom of each said vertical,

connector which will maintain alignment of said retaining wall duringconstruction and which will permit penetration of the original elevationby said connectors to ac commodate the draw down of said retaining wallby the action of the soil in said bins against said hat-shaped stringerand spacer members, whereby deflection is minimized in said retainingwall.

4. The retaning wall according to claim 3, including a stringer capcovering the uppermost edge of the flange of each one of the uppermoststringer members in the front of said wall.

5. In a retaining wall of the bin-type having a plurality of pairs ofvertical connectors, one vertical connector of of each pair being in theplane of the front of said wall and the other vertical connector beingin the plane of the rear of said wall, stringer members joining saidvertical connectors in the front and rear of said wall, and spacermembers joining said pairs of vertical connectors, the improvement incombination therewith wherein said vertical connectors are T-shaped incross section and comprise a web portion substantially normal to andpositioned centrally on a flange portion, and wherein said stringermembers and spacer members are lapped, the shingle effect thereofprevening soil leakage through said laps, each of said stringer membersbeing generally hat-shaped in crosssection with outwardly extendingflanges, the flanges of each said stringer member being overlapped so asto be juxtaposed and contiguous with the flanges of adjacent stringermembers, and the flanges of said stringer members being attached at theends thereof to a part of the flange portion one side of the web portionof the adjacent ones of said T-shaped vertical connectors, and each ofsaid spacer members being generally hat-shaped in cross section withoutwardly extending flanges, the flanges of each said spacer memberbeing overlapped so as to be juxtaposed and contiguous with the flangesof adjacent spacer members, and the flanges of said spacer members beingattached at the ends thereof to the web portions of adjacent ones ofsaid T-shaped vertical connectors, whereby the plurality of bins betweensaid pairs of vertical connectors are soil tight and hold the backfilled soil therein so as to form an integral retaining wall.

6. The structure claimed in claim 5 including means for capping the endsof those spacer members joining certain at least of said pairs ofconnectors, said capping means comprising vertically oriented elongatedelements having a U-shaped cross sectional configuration, said elementsbeing so sized as to accept the ends of the spacer members between thelegs of said U-shaped configuration, said elements being aflixed tothose connectors being joined by the spacer members being capped.

7. The retaining wall according to claim 5, including a deformable gradeplate at the bottom of each said vertical connector which will maintainalignment of said retaining wall during construction and which willpermit penetration of the original elevation by said connectors toaccommodate draw down of said retaining wall by the action of the soilin said bins against said hat-shaped stringer and spacer members,whereby deflection is prevented in the front and rear walls of saidretaining wall.

8. The retaining wall according to claim 7, including a stringer capcovering the uppermost edge of the flange of each one of the uppermoststringer members in the front of said wall.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 710,115 9/1902 Neuman 61-471,843,041 1/1932 Nagel 61-47 1,909,299 5/1933 Mette 6147 X 2,092,6469/1937 Grother 61-39 2,210,264 8/1940 Schenk 61--47 2,358,698 9/1944Flath -6147 DENNIS L. TAYLOR, Primary Examiner

